DIRECTOR / PRODUCER
STEPH BORKLUND
Steph Borklund has more than 10 years of experience as a producer, director and editor. Her works include documentaries, narratives, and corporate and industrial videos. Her most rewarding job has been teaching at Stephens College and having the opportunity to teach the next generation of female filmmakers.
BECKY DAVIS
SCREENWRITER
Rebecca Fjelland Davis—Becky—lives near Mankato, Minnesota and teaches English and Humanities at South Central College in North Mankato. Becky is an insane cyclist, races occasionally, and tries to avoid broken bones. Becky also spends time with her Newfoundland dog, Freya, and with her grown children and her grandchildren who live too far away. She likes taking students to South Africa, Europe, or and other places like art museums that challenge the way they think about the world.
Her published books include Chasing AllieCat (Flux, 2011); and Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged (HarperCollins, 2003); Medusa Tells All: Beauty Missing, Hair Hissing (Capstone, 2014); nine other children’s books with Capstone press; and a short story, “Mars at Night” in the young adult anthology Girl Meets Boy (Chronicle, January 2012). Various periodicals have also published her essays, most recently “Grave Lesson in Winter” in the Mankato Magazine, http://www.mankatofreepress.com/news/magazines/grave-lesson-in-winter/article_51138cd6-b96a-11e5-939a-cf088acca65d.html
Her motto: “Better to burn out than to rust out.”
http://rebeccafjellanddavis.com/
507-340-1330
PRODUCER
KERRI YOST
CHASE THOMPSON
Kerri Yost is an independent filmmaker and teacher. She learned filmmaking overseas in while teaching abroad and after returning home to Missouri, she focused on films about the people in the Midwest. Her feature film Neither Here Nor There documents Bosnian refugees starting new lives in Missouri, which played on PBS and was nominated for an Emmy. Her short documentary films Billy and X-Ray Man focus on soldiers who had extraordinary lives. Yost is an associate professor of film at Stephens College and Director of Programming of the Citizen Jane Film Festival.
ART DIRECTOR
Chase Thompson is a fourth-generation teacher with a passion for helping students find their creative voice through digital filmmaking and photography. Aside from teaching at Stephens, he is an independent filmmaker and photographer. His feature length documentary, Zielinski, was selected into Slamdance, True/False Film Fest and Radar Hamburg International Independent Film Festival, and it received Best Political Doc at Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and the Golden Reel Award at the Nevada Film Festival. Thompson is a screener for Slamdance and is working on his first narrative feature. In the meantime, he wrote and directed THRESHOLD (Fargo Film Fest, 2013) and Flat Black (Diamond in the Rough Film Festival, 2015). In April of 2014, Thompson led a group of students to Haiti to create a short documentary for the BuildOn organization. One of his photos from this trip was published in Photographer's Forum Best of 2014. Thompson is pursuing his MFA in Screenwriting and Television at Stephens.
PRODUCER/ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
JORDAN COLLINS
Jordan is a senior film student at Stephens College. Throughout her time at Stephens Jordan has worked on various projects as a producer including the documentaries Roots of Knowledge and Star Struck as well as the short narratives Muffin Top and The Bike Thief. This past summer she worked a s production management intern with the reality television production company Tremendous! Entertainment in Los Angles. After college Jordan hopes to work in documentary film and educational reality TV.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER/ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
KIRSTEN IZZETT
Kirsten Izzett is originally from Portland, Oregon. She is just finished her senior thesis Mother’s Day. While at Stephens she has worked a variety of jobs throughout her time her time in school that include professional and small independent sets. She has Art Directed the film Once Crazy and the music video for girl band Dubb Nubb for their song I Dreamt. Kirsten also has also has incorporated a passion for education into her career and has taught at different film camps and classes over the past three years. She is the head graphic designer for Chasing AllieCat and is also one of the producers for the film. After graduation, she will be moving to New York to pursue a career in television.
PROPS MASTER/MAKEUP
CLARA SELEENA C.
Clara SeLeena C. is an artist and filmmaker from Kirbyville, Missouri and a graduating senior at Stephens College. She is currently working on a short The Hieroglyphics and creating the documentary Crafting the Ozarks: Fiber Arts. She was an assistant producer of Leaving Osage Lane (2014), SFI's previous film. Clara has also directed and produced the short film A Light that Never Goes Out (2013) which was shown at the Valentine’s Day Film Festival 2014 at the University of Missouri. In addition to producing the short Wayward (2013). Her passions are weaving, painting, sewing, creating and directing film.
CROWDFUNDING MANAGER/ASSISTANT EDITOR
AUD ROBLES
Originally from Dallas, Texas, Aud Robles is currently a senior at Stephens College studying Digital Filmmaking. In the alarmingly near future, Aud hopes to work as a film editor and make the kind of content that brightens people's day.
SOCIAL MEDIA PRODUCER/ASSISTANT EDITOR
NIKKI GOTTSCHALK
Nikki is a junior film student at Stephens College. She is currently in production of her senior thesis film, Star Struck. With past experience on student and commercial productions, as well as working with Columbia Access Television and the Citizen Jane Film Festival, Nikki looks to further her career as a director and film editor for both documentary and narrative film.
WEBMASTER/DOC CREW
J. HOLLY ZABRON
Holly is a 22 year old photographer and dog trainer from Hamburg, New York. She directed her first film, RESCUE, the summer of 2015. She has also worked on the short narrative Home (2014) as the director of photography, dog handler, and editor, and Smile (2015) as the director of photography and editor. She continues to broaden her knowledge of film and photography at Stephens College, where she is set to graduate from in May 2016.
LOCATIONS MANAGER/DOC CREW
AUTUMN BROWN
Autumn is a junior digital filmmaking major at Stephens College. She hails from the rolling hills of Cleveland, Tennessee and is currently working on her senior film thesis, a yet-to-be-titled short film tribute to her recently deceased music idol David Bowie. When she’s not making films or jamming to Ziggy Stardust, Autumn dabbles in the comedic arts, photography, and drawing. Her most recent work includes the short doc Loving George C. Scott and the photo series Ghosts. Autumn wishes to one day write and direct her own feature films.
ASSISTANT CAMERA
LIVVY RUNYON
Livvy Runyon is a senior film student at Stephens College from Rolla, Missouri. She has been a crewmember on multiple short films, including I Am One (2013), Rompiendo El Ciclo (2015), and a promotional documentary filmed in Haiti. She was the Director of Photography for Muffin Top (2014) and Once Crazy (2014), and is currently in postproduction for her senior capstone film, Home (2016), a short narrative filmed on the family farm where she spent her childhood. Her passions in film are international documentary filmmaking and cinematography.
CASTING DIRECTOR/SCRIPT SUPERVISOR
MELISSA LEWIS
Melissa Lewis is a filmmaker from Columbia, MO. She currently studies Digital Filmmaking at Stephens College where she won a scholarship competition for her short film Parapraxis. She is a driven and passionate writer/director/editor who strives for success in all of her creative endeavors. She loves cats and inspirational films.
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR
KAT NGUYEN
Kat Nguyen is a Junior who aspires to be a director/producer for social cause films. She loves analog photography and tacos.